What Happens In ANBU
by Angelwiththeblackestwings
Summary: A series of one shots about the best ANBU team to emerge from the Leaf. From the heartbreaking to the downright ridiculous adventures that Kakashi,Tenzo and Itachi managed to find themselves involved in while working as a team.
1. The Broken Arm

**The Broken Arm**

Perhaps it was in the way he fell but above anything else, it was the resounding snap as he landed that alerted his two teammates of their captain's injury. Tenzo spun around; fist meeting his opponents face and knocking him into a nearby tree. Itachi's eyes reverted to black as his own opponent dropped to his knees, unaware of his environment and drooling grossly.

"Captain!" Tenzo shouted, vaulting over a rock as Kakashi's opponent landed on his head beside him, causing a second sickening crack. Itachi glanced around the clearing, eyes scanning for the unlikely appearance of further enemies before moving towards Kakashi's panting body.

"Captain? Are you alright?" Itachi asked, eyes creased with worry as Tenzo hauled Kakashi upright. The fist met Tenzo's face before he could dodge, sending Tenzo stumbling backwards. He pulled off his mask roughly, wiping his now bloody nose with his bare arm.

"Hey Kakashi what the hell?" Tenzo demanded, backing up a little as Kakashi swayed on his feet. Kakashi's ANBU mask was in pieces, broken by the fall and currently residing at his teetering feet.

Kakashi looked up, his eyes dull and dazed. "Why do you have two faces Tenzo?" He slurred, rubbing his head with his left arm. "Haha, two faces…"

Itachi looked from Kakashi to Tenzo, who was still rubbing his nose with narrowed eyes. "Uh, Captain, we heard a snap, have you broken anything?"

"Broken anything? Nooooo." Kakashi laughed, raising his right arm for a brief second before grunting and keeling over. "Maybe a little broken." Evidently there was something funny in his words because Kakashi burst into laughter, chuckling to himself as he poked at his limp arm.

"I think he has a concussion Tenzo." Itachi diagnosed, struggling to keep his face from breaking into an amused grin as Kakashi winced from prodding his arm a little too hard.

"Yeah, wonderful prognosis doctor. I also more than likely have a broken nose to go with his arm, damn he can punch." Tenzo muttered, pinching his nose in an attempt to stanch the blood flow. "My nose really hurts."

"We should get back to the Leaf; he's in danger of making a nuisance of himself." Itachi told his sane teammate, crossing his arms as Kakashi leant against a rather large tree trunk, beginning to look a little pale.

"Yeah, but before he damages that arm further we have to splint it." Tenzo removed his hand from his nose and created a sequence of hand seals, ending with his finger extending into a sturdy splint for Kakashi's arm.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Did it have to be your middle finger?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Tenzo approached Kakashi warily. "Okay Captain, I gotta bind this to your arm. Please don't hit me again."

Kakashi smirked. "Your reflexes are terrible, how did you even get into ANBU?" He slurred once more.

"Says the man who just fell out of a tree." Tenzo retorted, tying the splint a little too tightly, causing Kakashi to glare at him menacingly.

"I didn't fall, I stumbled, lost chakra and _then_ I fell. Completely different things." Kakashi muttered, the pain seeming to clear his head a little.

"If you say so Captain." Tenzo muttered, finishing his splint and grabbing Kakashi under the armpits as he swayed and threatened to meet the ground momentarily. "You're pretty heavy Kakashi."

"What, do you think muscle is light?"

"Oh, is that what we're calling it now?"

"Shut up Tenzo, there's a reason I'm captain you know." Kakashi mumbled.

"Lord Hokage was drunk at the time, I know that much." Tenzo replied, dragging Kakashi's good arm over his shoulders to support him. Tenzo turned his attention to Itachi, who was barely holding back a smile. "Itachi, find the documents, I'm gonna start heading back with our deadweight Captain."

"This 'deadweight captain' can hear you, Tenzo."

Itachi nodded and immediately began ruffling through the pockets of Kakashi's dead opponent. Tenzo ignored Kakashi's comment and helped him to manoeuvre Kakashi back in the direction of the village. It only took a few minutes for Itachi to fall back into step with them silently, the only one of the three with a completely intact mask which currently resided by his hip, hiding the pouch containing the documents completely from view. Tenzo glanced at Itachi gratefully before picking up the pace and causing Kakashi to groan.

"Shut up you baby." Tenzo scolded, dragging Kakashi around to the ANBU entrance of the village, to which Itachi opened; glad to be of some use. They gained a few strange looks as they made their way through the small ANBU compound and towards the hospital.

"I don't need to go to the hospital I just need a drink. Tsunade is just going to break my other arm." Kakashi muttered, attempting to change direction.

"Oh no you don't." Tenzo grabbed him by the collar and began to march him back towards the direction of the hospital.

"I'll go give these to the Hokage." Itachi offered, backing away before vanishing.

"It's been two years and he's still scared of you." Tenzo scolded.

"That's your fault for telling him I once killed a man by accident because he woke me up from a nap."

"At least I was nice enough to tell him it was an accident."

"Yeah, well you—"

"KAKASHI!" A loud, female voice shouted from the end of the hallway. Kakashi flinched and Tenzo took a step back, leaving him to Tsunade's wrath.

"Oh, hello Lady Tsunade." Kakashi greeted, waving his splinted arm.

"What did you do to your arm?" She asked quietly.

"He fell out of a tree." Tenzo offered, ignoring Kakashi's glare of betrayal.

"Wonderful idea Hatake, let me take a look at it. Follow me."

"Right…" Kakashi mumbled, stumbling after her.

"You too, Tenzo." Tsunade called, causing Tenzo to jog after them.

It only took a few minutes for Tsunade to lose her temper.

"Tell me what you see Hatake." Tsunade ordered, biting her thumb as she stuck and x-ray film onto the board.

"My arm?"

"Continue."

"My broken arm?"

"Congratulations, here we see your shattered, I repeat, shattered, arm. How in the hell, did you manage this?" Tsunade spat, folding her arms and glaring at Kakashi, who stared back dumbly.

"I fell out of a tree."

"Yes, Tenzo mentioned that part. How did you fall out of said tree?" Tsunade gritted her teeth, holding her hands over his arm and starting to heal it. Her hands glowed green and Kakashi scrunched his nose up in distaste as his bone began to mould together.

"I ran out of chakra and —Ow, I think you forgot the painkillers." Kakashi muttered, jerking his arm away.

"What painkillers?" Tsunade asked, smiling sweetly as she dragged his arm back roughly.

Kakashi paled and watched Tsunade warily as she began working on his arm again. Tenzo leant against the doorway, smirking at Kakashi's discomfort.

"You know," Tsunade told him, taking gauze from a side table and wrapping at around his blackening arm. "I have a lot of work to do without you demanding attention by messing up your arm to this extent you little brat."

"Ha!" Tenzo spluttered, causing the two ninja in the room to glance at him.

"You shouldn't be laughing Tenzo, I still have to fix your nose and I may make a mistake while resetting it." Tsunade told him, smiling sweetly once more.

Tenzo stiffened and paled, rubbing the back of his neck slowly, trying not to look as terrified as he felt.

Finishing with the padding, Tsunade applied the cast, building it up so it ranged from his wrist to just over his elbow, limiting the movement severely.

"Can't you put it a little lower so I can bend my elbow?"

"Of course! Just let me break the cast so I can do that!" Tsunade replied, placing pressure on the cast and causing Kakashi to grimace.

"On second thought, it's fine the way it is." Kakashi muttered.

"I thought so." Tsunade turned her attention to Tenzo and beckoned him over, squeezing his nose with her fingers and frowning as he winced. "It's only a small fracture, I can heal it here."

As her hands glowed once more she began to speak, outlining how Kakashi was to take care of his cast. Kakashi nodded, not taking any of it in and Tsunade sighed. "Tenzo, look after him and let him sleep for a while, he has a concussion so you'll need to wake him up every few hours to— what?"

Tenzo's face paled. "You want me… to wake him up… Do I look like I have a death wish?"

Tsunade's face became cloudy. "I don't know, do you?"

Tenzo glanced from Kakashi to Tsunade before gulping and nodding. "I'll wake him up, don't worry."

"Good!" Tsunade smiled and put a hand on Tenzo's shoulder, squeezing it with her strength before patting his head. "Now both of you get out of my sight right now before I break some of your other bones."

"Yes ma'am!" The two shinobi jumped up and scurried from the room, Tsunade staring after them fondly for a moment before turning back to her earlier work.

Itachi was waiting outside for them. At some point during the time that Kakashi and Tenzo had been in the hospital he had changed back into ordinary clothes and was watching the entrance silently. At the sight of the raggedy pair he straightened up and made his way over.

"Captain Kakashi, how is your arm?"

"Jeez kid, we're not on a mission, it's just Kakashi now."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it Itachi, he's just grumpy because Tsunade shouted at him." Tenzo laughed, leaning his elbow on the twelve year olds head.

"Yeah? She shouted at you too asshole."

"See, he's just grumpy." Tenzo ruffled Itachi's hair and he flushed at the action, hastily flattening it back into the ponytail. As far as he was concerned he was far too old for hair ruffling but he wasn't about to tell Tenzo that.

"You haven't seen me when I'm grumpy Tenzo, and you don't wanna."

"Rather you than Tsunade."

"Sure about that? Because I—"

"Hey Kakashi, nice cast!" Asuma greeted, slapping him on the back. "How'd you get it?"

"He fell out of a tree."Itachi stated.

Asuma blinked for a second before bursting into laughter. "That's a good one kid, what really happened?"

Kakashi gave him a flat look and Asuma laughed harder. "Oh Kakashi that's great! You really are the best at making people laugh."

"Shut the hell up Asuma."

"Let me guess, Tsunade didn't give him any painkillers."

"You hit the nail on the head." Tenzo told him, waving goodbye to Asuma as he dragged Kakashi towards his house. Itachi tailed behind, not entirely sure if he was welcome. Tenzo turned his head and called back to the kid. "Come on Itachi, you want some soup don't you?"

Itachi nodded, hurrying to catch up to the two older men. When they reached Kakashi's house Tenzo turned to Kakashi expectantly , reaching out his hand for the key. Kakashi shrugged.

"Oh for God's sake." Tenzo muttered, moving to Kakashi's right and sticking his hand into Kakashi's pouch to get the key. He pulled it out triumphantly and unlocked the door, ignoring the amused stare that Kakashi was giving him.

The three entered and Tenzo shoved Kakashi into the living room. "Sit." He ordered before moving into the kitchen.

Kakashi slumped down onto the seat gratefully, leaning his head back and sighing loudly. "Owww"

Tenzo ignored him and continued to bang about the kitchen, removing tins and vegetables from Kakashi's cupboards. He frowned at the sheer mass of ramen lining the shelves and made a silent promise to himself to remove every single offending package of it. It only took him a few minutes before the soup was on and Tenzo was stirring it slowly, adding seasoning and some salt to the mix.

"I said owww." Kakashi reiterated, emphasising how much pain he was in. Itachi bit his lip and turned to Tenzo who sighed and pointed towards a high cupboard. Itachi looked up to the cupboard silently, raising an eyebrow and knowing that in order to reach it, he'd have to climb like a child.

Despite Tenzo's amused gaze Itachi walked over to the counter and pulled himself up, sitting on his knees on the marble top and stretching his arms above his head in order to grasp the handle of the cupboard and pull it open. Seeing as the bottom of the cupboard was still above his eye level it took him a few minutes of patting the shelf before he found the first box and pulled it down. Luck seemed to be on his side at first as he realised that the box was the one he was looking for. Once he opened the box however, his luck vanished as an empty sachet fell out.

Itachi slumped and turned his head to face Tenzo.

"Uh, Tenzo?" He asked, tipping the box upside down.

"Itachi? Why are you sitting on my kitchen counter?" Kakashi enquired, eyebrows raised inquisitively at the Uchiha as he leant against the doorframe.

"Tenzo told me to get you painkillers but there aren't any left." Itachi replied, squinting at the sachet and holding it at different angles as if that might make more tablets miraculously appear.

"Tenzo…" Kakashi growled, turning his attention to Tenzo, who was struggling to keep a straight face as his shoulders shook.

Itachi blinked and flushed a deep red, pushing himself off the counter quickly and landing lightly on the floor, his eyes narrowed at Tenzo whose face still struggled to stay straight.

"My medicine is in that cupboard Itachi." Kakashi told him, pointing to a much lower, easily reachable cupboard near the cooker, in front of which Tenzo was looking far too amused. Itachi nodded, glaring at Tenzo before grabbing a packet of painkillers from the cupboard and handing some to Kakashi, the poor kid looked like he had lost a few inches of height, it there was even any height to loose, over the last few minutes.

"Thanks kid." Kakashi told him, slumping miserably back into the living room with a glass of water, if he thought he could get any sympathy from his teammates he was very wrong.

Once Kakashi vanished Itachi turned to Tenzo who finally snapped, chuckling away to himself. Itachi's face flushed again which only made Tenzo laugh harder.

"It's not funny." Itachi hissed, glaring at Tenzo with some form of killing intent.

"It's very funny." Tenzo countered. "You're so trusting, I just had to do it, sorry Itachi, I won't do it again, for a while at least."

"The soup is burning," Itachi said as he hardened his glare, which was _almost_ as scary as a kitten growling. He hoped that Tenzo had not noticed the precise fire jutsu that may or may not have been performed by an annoyed and vengeful Itachi while Tenzo had had his back turned to the cooker in order laugh at embarrassed twelve year old.

Tenzo's face paled as he spun around to save the soup. _Good_. Itachi thought as he allowed himself a small smirk of revenge and left the kitchen moving to sit on the seat opposite Kakashi in the living room.

"His ego only grows the more you fall for his tricks, you know that, right kid?" Kakashi muttered, oblivious to any revenge that may or may not have already been served; he rested his good arm over his eyes as he waited for the painkillers to take effect.

"I'm not a kid." Itachi mumbled, folding his arms.

Kakashi raised his arm slightly so that he could see Itachi. "You're twelve, Itachi. Definitely still a kid."

"To be fair Kakashi, you're only nineteen." Tenzo told him, appearing in the doorway with soup in hand.

"You're the one that started this Tenzo. Besides I'm the oldest, and the captain." Kakashi replied.

"Just eat your soup." Tenzo muttered, slamming it on the table and sitting down beside Itachi on the other side. Kakashi slid off the sofa and settled himself opposite the two, digging into the soup immediately. His two teammates were a little less vicious in their eating, Itachi the most polite of the three, having been raised in that way.

It didn't take long for the three of them to empty the delicious Tenzo-baked pot of goodness. Kakashi leant back and sighed happily. "That was good."

"Of course it was, I made it." Tenzo muttered, grabbing the dishes and balancing them on top of each other precariously. Itachi stood up and caught a bowl as it fell causing Kakashi to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Nice catch." Kakashi complimented, standing up and stretching his arms above his head, wincing as pain shot through his arm.

Itachi nodded, wheels turning in his head as he formulated another plan of revenge and innocently carried the bowl into the kitchen after Tenzo, where they dumped the dishes into the sink.

"Yo Kakashi do you want us to wash these?" Tenzo asked as Kakashi walked in.

"Well I can hardly do it now can I?"

"You're literally going to use that cast as an excuse for doing nothing aren't you Kakashi?" Tenzo muttered.

"Oh, yes." Kakashi grinned, pulling off his forehead protector. Itachi blinked and stared at Kakashi for a moment. Kakashi's gaze moved to Itachi and his eyes narrowed slightly. "What is it Itachi?"

"Your hair, it's got mud in it, and a twig." Itachi pointed out.

Kakashi immediately began patting the back of his head with his left hand, he seemed to miss his entire head several times before pulling out the twig and dropping it into the bin. Itachi noticed this and was grateful Kakashi had never tried to use his left hand for chidori while he had ever been nearby.

"You have to wash it Kakashi, that's disgusting." Tenzo muttered oblivious to the fact that Kakashi seemed to have less control over his left hand than he had over how fast Jiraiya wrote the dubious novels that Kakashi seemed to enjoy a little too much.

"Technically I can't."

"No, you're going to. I will not let you walk around with disgusting hair; they'll think you're homeless." Tenzo told him, his nose scrunched up as he watched his captain.

"Only if you wash it for me." Kakashi grinned, winking at him.

"No." Tenzo raised his finger as if to stop Kakashi with willpower. Both Kakashi and Itachi stared at him pointedly, Itachi struggling to hold back his laughter of revenge. "No!"

"This is ridiculous." Tenzo hissed as he massaged Kakashi's head roughly. His face was slowly turning a bright red, something which was not due to the heat of the room. Itachi had pleaded Kakashi's case with Tenzo but had then mysteriously disappeared as if he didn't want to be around when one of his teammates went for the others throat.

The two teenagers thought they heard a snigger from nearby but for fear of being accused of going mad neither of them mentioned it. Instead keeping their eyes focused on different points on the wall. After a few minutes Kakashi began to laugh."Ouch Tenzo, you're being a little rough." Kakashi grinned, shoulders shaking with laughter.

"I will kill you Kakashi and I'll make it look like an accident." Tenzo threatened, lifting up a bucket of water that may have at some point been warm but had turned as icy as Tenzo's mood and pouring it over Kakashi's head in one movement, causing him to duck from the force. Kakashi turned to glare at Tenzo who's eyes had widened in shock as he realised the new anime-pink shade of Kakashi's hair had not rinsed out.

"What?" Kakashi enquired. Tenzo was suddenly faced with the life or death decision between telling Kakashi about his hair or letting him discover his new look when Tenzo was as safe a distance as possible away from him and his rage which would accompany the realisation

"Nothing," Tenzo replied. "I Just remembered I left the pink scarecrows in the oven and realised I should have taken them out"

Kakashi gave Tenzo a strange look, suspicion barely held behind his eyes before pondering out loud, "Don't you think Itachi would look kinda like a girl with his hair down? " He shook his head causing droplets of water to cover Tenzo in a small shower.

"At least his hair is neat," Tenzo muttered, defending Itachi. "Yours just goes everywhere, a crazy-old-man-haired mess."

"I'm offended." Kakashi mused, standing up and fixing a towel around his waist, grabbing a second and using it to rub his hair dry, the movements clumsy due to his handicap, luckily for Tenzo he dropped the white towel on the floor without noticing either the pink towel or the pink trail he was now leaving everywhere in his wake.

"Get a haircut." Tenzo ordered, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Okay _mum._" Kakashi grinned, causing Tenzo to whack his head with the empty bottle of bubblegum pink formula that he had used to 'wash' Kakashi's hair.

"I despise you." Tenzo muttered as Kakashi passed a mirror resulting in Tenzo's heart stopping for a dangerous length of time before he turned away hastily to go and fetch his clothes, leaving Kakashi at a safe distance, looking confused as he stroked his hair backcombing it with his fingers and trying to figure out what had terrified his friend so suddenly.

In the changing room Tenzo's shoulders began to shake and he had to lean on the lockers in an attempt to stifle his laughter. As he wiped tears from his eyes he glanced around the locker room, gaze landing on a neatly folded pile of clothes, noticeably more neatly folded than any others he would normally see in the men's changing room and there was one person in Konoha who used the men's changing rooms and folded their clothes as neatly as that and that person had not been sighted in the bath. When the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place Tenzo couldn't stop the laughter that emerged from his lips, clapping a hand over his mouth as he leant against the locker once more.

By the time he had calmed down enough to straighten up and turn around, Itachi's clothes had vanished and Kakashi was wandering in from the baths, still looking confused.

"Tenzo, what exactly were you doing in here? Standing admiring yourself in the mirror? It can't take that long to get dressed." Kakashi asked, grabbing his pile of clothes and beginning to pull them on awkwardly with his uncoordinated left hand and wishing he hadn't spoken as he would probably be stuck getting dressed for at least the next half hour unless he chose to live through the embarrassment of getting help to dress.

Tenzo grabbed his clothes, hiding his face from Kakashi, fearing that if he looked at the older boy he'd begin laughing again. There was a low swear behind Tenzo, he turned and started laughing as he took in the sight of his captain.

Kakashi's face was hidden behind his jumper, which had evidently been caught on his cast. He was tugging at the bottom of the cotton, trying his best to pull it down with one hand. "Tenzo." He hissed, his face reddening beneath the jumper as his precious mask started sliding down his face, ears picking up on the barely stifled sniggers coming from Tenzo's direction. "Help me now."

It took a few seconds before the jumper was pulled down and Kakashi could see again. He glared at Tenzo's red, amused face before turning to grab a few more painkillers, dry swallowing them and causing Tenzo to scrunch up his nose in disgust, hand touching his throat as he watched in mild horror.

Kakashi glanced down to Tenzo's hands, tilting his head before looking up. "Tenzo, is there a reason why your hands are bright pink?"

Tenzo's gaze shot down to look at his hands. True to Kakashi's word, they had become pink, rather like the bad tan job that some of the ANBU kunoichi had been trying out. "Must've touched some wet paint." He told him lamely.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes before moving to the doorway and grabbing his sandals, pulling them onto his feet and standing up. Tenzo followed suit, hopelessly trying to rub his hands of the offending pink colour something he knew would be an instant message to anyone that he had both washed and dyed his friend's hair before following Kakashi out of the bathhouse and into the sunlight. As the two of them walked down towards the restaurant-heavy end of the village Kakashi soon became suspicious of all the side glances being thrown his way by various passersby. A small black haired figure joined them silently, and Tenzo patted his shoulder, silently congratulating him on a job well done. Kakashi glanced at the two suspiciously suddenly very palsy boys with a wary eye before looking forwards and spying Asuma ahead.

Asuma's face was filled with confusion as he approached and he opened his mouth to speak. Behind Kakashi; Tenzo was showing a very flamboyant display, involving a pantomime of slitting wrists and waving hands as the only team member with any brain cells walked quietly and innocently beside him knowing the overly dramatic sucker would get the blame. Asuma blinked and closed his mouth, causing Kakashi to glance back at his now extremely serenely faced team.

"Nice hair." Asuma commented, managing to keep a straight face as he glanced at Tenzo's pink hands.

"Kakashi, what happened to your hair? Why is it pink?" Kurenai asked, appearing beside Asuma and staring at Kakashi's hair with concern.

"What?" Kakashi asked, looking from Kurenai to Asuma before moving to a nearby shop window a few meters away. Itachi covered his ears as a sudden loud scream resounded from behind Kakashi's mask making the other team members flinch at the volume. None of the shinobi watching Kakashi freak out about his new, main-character-of-an-anime coloured hair had ever heard the nineteen year old make such a sound. In fact, none of them even realised the normally white haired copy ninja was even capable of making such a high pitched screech.

Kakashi turned to Tenzo, glancing at the teenagers hands which, coincidently, were the exact same offending shade as Kakashi's new hair. It took Tenzo very little time to pale and back up as Kakashi stormed towards him. "I know what this looks like but it was not me."

"Tenzo… Did you dye my hair pink?" Kakashi asked, his voice the exact metaphor of "the calm before the storm", heavily threatening and very, very dangerous.

Tenzo raised his pretty pink hands. "No, no I didn't." He looked desperately over to Itachi who remained passive, not looking the slightest bit guilty.

"Tenzo you washed my hair." Kakashi growled, taking a step towards Tenzo.

"Wait, Tenzo washed your hair Kakashi? Am I missing something here?" Asuma grinned, looking from Tenzo to Kakashi, a gleeful look in his eye.

"Since Kakashi broke his arm, he couldn't do it himself so Tenzo volunteered unwillingly." Itachi explained, watching Tenzo's look of fear at his captain's wrath with a barely concealed look of amusement. Asuma looked crestfallen for a second, upset that his gossip had been lost while Kurenai gave a small smirk in Itachi's direction, understanding the situation better than Asuma.

Kakashi's left hand began to glow, the sound of the chidori piercing the air. Itachi's face paled knowing what Kakashi was like trying to use his left hand, luckily for Tenzo's current stress levels but unluckily for his predicament he still hadn't noticed Kakashi's hopeless left-hand coordination. When Tenzo glanced to Itachi for help, the kid's face was passive once more, evidently going to be of no help.

"Kakashi, I swear I didn't know. You have to believe me." Tenzo pleaded, watching as Kakashi approached with a murderer's gaze.

"My hair is pink, your hands are pink." Kakashi hissed.

"It wasn't me! It was Itachi!" Tenzo insisted.

Kakashi glanced at Itachi, who looked offended at the accusation. "Tenzo, you're trying to put the blame on Itachi, at least pick Asuma or something."

"Hey!" Asuma protested. "I would have at least made sure his eyebrows got dyed too!"

"So would I!" Tenzo told him, waving the offending pink hands again.

"So you're admitting you'd stoop that low, are you Tenzo?" Kakashi hissed, leaping forwards and causing Tenzo to duck out of the way and make a run for it. Kakashi followed, taking to the rooftops after Tenzo. Itachi remained behind, folding his arms and letting his face break into a smile.

Kurenai followed the two rapidly vanishing figures with her eyes before turning to the real guilty party, ,"So Itachi, are you going to tell them it was you?" she asked sarcastically

"I have no idea what you mean." Itachi replied, the picture of innocence. "Pulling a childish prank like that is beneath me, I would never stoop so low."

"I think we should save Tenzo before Kakashi kills him." Kurenai laughed nervously, worry beginning to creep in.

"Nah, Kakashi has a broken arm, Tenzo'll be able to out run him." Asuma replied, enjoying the situation a little too much.

"Arm being the key word." Kurenai answered, biting her lip.

"Kakashi has an awful aim with his left hand, Tenzo should be fine." Itachi told them, shrugging his shoulders and not mentioning that even though Tenzo would be safe the village was most likely in great peril.

There was a crash and sudden, rather large cloud of dust in the distance, followed by loud swearing and an angry shop keeper screaming something about cabbages. The three shinobi glanced at each other before running towards the source of the noise.

Tenzo was apologizing profusely to the very angry vendor, promising to fix the broken stand once he visited the hospital. Kakashi was pale, his left arm looking limp by his side and when the three shinobi arrived beside him he shrugged, wincing at the pain. "I broke the other one."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Asuma demanded, glancing over to Tenzo who was still apologizing.

"I fell while using the chidori and crashed into that stand." Kakashi explained, glaring at Tenzo as he finished his apologies and approached the group.

It was at this very convenient point that a young bowl-cut haired youth decided to show his beautiful large eyebrows "I sensed the youthful energy of two men expressing their feelings of friendship through fist-fighting!" Gai exclaimed enthusiastically as he started stretching

"Bit late Gai, Kakashi already broke his other arm" Kurenai smiled at the overly exuberant ninja.

"Sorry Gai I think you just missed the friendship fighting," Asuma told him, shoulders shaking from laughter

"Why did no one come and tell me?" Gai asked, he looked on the edge of dramatic tears as he turned to the two filthy ANBU nin, Tenzo was trying to help his pink haired friend but was seemingly only adding more pain and embarrassment for Kakashi. Gai's eyes lit up as his eyes darted from Kakashi's pink hair to Tenzo's pink hands "I see what happened here" he exclaimed.

Knowing Gai's typical thought processes everyone appeared to brace themselves and even Itachi put on a slightly concerned expression "I see that kind Tenzo has made Kakashi's hair the colour a youthful pink newborn baby to help Kakashi to express his youthfulness and in gratitude Kakashi showed Tenzo a level of rivalry usually only reserved for me, his one true rival, I see that he pushed his youthful energy to the limits for his friend and even though I missed the fist-fighting I would like to dye my hair the colour of a new born baby, a picture of the epitome of youthfulness and train so hard that my own arms will break." During the speech Gai was tearing up in joy of the thought of something that he had greatly misunderstood.

"Yep, that sounds about right." Asuma grinned, an evil gleam appearing in his eyes.

Kakashi turned his glare to Asuma who immediately sobered up. Tenzo rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, looking guilty.

"We should get you to the hospital, again." Tenzo mumbled, looking sheepish.

"Yeah, no shit." Kakashi muttered.

Asuma laughed and touched Kurenai's arm. "We'll leave you guys to it. Gai, come on with us."

When Asuma and Kurenai had vanished with Gai in tow, Tenzo laughed nervously. "So, we should get going."

"If Tsunade tries to kill me, I'm pulling you in front of me." Kakashi threatened unaware that he wasn't capable of even pulling his hospital sheets over the bottom half of his face in his current condition, let alone a heavily muscled teenage boy who weighed a lot more than the average bed sheet.

"I swear to you I didn't put the dye in the shampoo!"

"Yeah, sure."

To say Tsunade was angry would have been a large understatement. The large medical textbook that she had thrown at Kakashi had left a large bruise on Tenzo's forehead as Kakashi, true to his word, had pulled the younger teen in front of him, Tenzo's bulky forehead protector finally came in handy as he managed to avoid potential brain injuries, leading to him making an unconscious decision to never take it off again, for fear of Kakashi getting him killed. Unfortunately, Kakashi had not thought his actions through as, once he had grabbed the younger boy and used him as a human shield, his arm had given up on being usable and he had keeled over in pain. Tsunade had not been overly amused at that turn of events either, biting her thumb in annoyance as her fingers itched to throw another heavy medical volume.

"If I see you in this hospital again for anything other than a check up, I will make sure to break the rest of your bones." Tsunade threatened, finishing off Kakashi's second cast. This one was much smaller, covering only his forearm, allowing him full movement.

At the sight of Kakashi's bubblegum hair she hadn't batted an eyelash, instead reaching for the medical book once she saw how awkwardly Kakashi was carrying his left arm. With more threats of putting him in seclusion until his bones healed, Tsunade handed him a bottle of dye stripper to change his hair back to its normal colour.

As Kakashi and Tenzo trooped out, the two of them bickering like old men, Kakashi still convinced of Tenzo's guilt and Tenzo pleading his innocence, Tsunade held Itachi back for a few moments.

"I have three things to say to you Itachi. First off, make sure that Kakashi does not, in fact, carry out his threat to kill Tenzo. Secondly, next time you dye Kakashi's hair pink, do not let him blame Tenzo, Tenzo cannot plead his innocence to save his life. Lastly, when Kakashi's hair turns blue, do not say a word." Tsunade told him, handing Itachi a small bottle of the real hair colour stripper unaware it would be poured down the sink as soon as the kid got home.

Itachi nodded solemnly and Tsunade struggled to believe that he could have pulled off such a prank against his superiors, she considered mentioning to Sarutobit about promoting him for his obvious intelligence and subtlety but quickly decided to hold off, knowing that he hadn't been in ANBU long enough to be promoted, despite his abilities. Excusing himself, Itachi grabbed the bottle from Tsunade's outstretched hand and left the room, leaving Tsunade shaking her head at the so called 'best ANBU team in the entire Leaf Village' —In which the most mature and intelligent member of the team was the youngest member, the eleven year old — and fetching the medical textbook from the ground.

As promised, when Kakashi's hair had turned blue the next day, Itachi did not utter a word. Tenzo on the other hand made himself scarce, hiding out until Kakashi's hair was back to white. Itachi never admitted to dyeing Kakashi's hair pink and even Tenzo began to doubt it, instead wondering if he had in fact, picked up a bottle of dye instead of the shampoo. Gai, with Asuma egging him on, had ended up with a vibrant shade of green hair. Kakashi, fearing further embarrassment, refused to be seen with the youth and quickly arranged for him and his team to be sent on a very long mission, long enough that, by the time he came back, Gai's hair was back to black.


	2. The Clan (Part 1 of 2)

_AN: This is the first part of what should be a two parter__—__ please keep reviewing and if any of you guys have any suggestions, I'd be happy to see if I can write them! I have a few ideas stashed away but after seeing what way the anime fillers are going at the moment I decided to publish this now._

**The Clan (pt 1/2)**

Itachi had not been himself for days and both of his teammates could see it. To a stranger passing by the young boy would seem perfectly fine but, to Kakashi and Tenzo, the way Itachi was acting had not gone unnoticed. It would start with a creased brow and a light rub to the back of his neck before he would tug at the tip of his pony tail and let out a small sigh. This would repeat every thirty minutes, a small, almost unnoticeable sequence of actions that alerted the boy's two teammates to his troubled mind. Neither Kakashi nor Tenzo had brought the topic up with Itachi but Kakashi was more worried than Tenzo, who seemed to think the boy was going through a 'rebellious stage and just needed space'.

At the end of a particularly taxing mission, after which Itachi had excused himself from attending the team's customary 'we survived' meal cooked by Tenzo at Kakashi's house, Kakashi decided that something had to be done. It was the early afternoon and so Tenzo was cooking lunch, a rich, nutrient filled soup that warmed their cold hands. After the meal Kakashi finally brought up the topic that had been bothering the two of them.

"I'm worried about him."

Tenzo glanced up from the remainder of his soup, his brow furrowed as he nodded. "His best friend committed suicide a week ago. What do you expect?"

"My best friend died and I did not act like that. I was devastated and I needed help. I did not tug at my ponytail every so often and look worried. Something is bothering him and it is not just Shisui's death." Kakashi told Tenzo, pulling his mask back over his nose and tapping the table with his index finger.

"So you're saying we should talk to him?" Tenzo asked, lifting Kakashi's bowl and placing it on top of his own. He stood up and lifted the two bowls and Kakashi grabbed the glasses, following the younger man into the small kitchen.

"Maybe just me. Itachi is quiet in general and not very open, I don't think we should crowd him." Kakashi dumped the dishes into the sink and leant against the counter; arms folded against his chest as Tenzo turned the tap on and filled the basin with hot water.

"You might be right, Itachi kinda reminds me of a cat, cute and cuddly until you corner it and realise it's a tiger." Tenzo mused, dipping his hands into the scalding water before whipping them out as he hissed at his burning fingers. The cold water tap was turned on and the water cooled until it was deemed manageable by Tenzo, much to Kakashi's bemusement, eye crinkling in the corner as he let out a small smile at Tenzo's description of Itachi before picking up a towel and drying the first bowl that Tenzo set on the draining board.

"Which is why I think I might be better. You're a little, well, blunt." Kakashi pointed out, putting the bowl into the cupboard.

"Have you listened to yourself Kakashi? You're the epitome of blunt but, you are the captain so go for it. Besides, you know what he's going through." Tenzo told him, sobering up when he reached the last sentence.

"Yeah, I do." Kakashi muttered, putting the last clean bowl into the cupboard and sighing. "There is too much death in this world. Anyone can see that."

"We're a shinobi world, what do you expect, sunshine and daisies?" Tenzo replied, wiping down the counters and emptying the now dirty water from the basin, watching it vanish down the sink.

"Maybe someday we'll have peace, if the right person comes along." Kakashi mused, putting the glasses back into the cupboard and drying the surfaces that Tenzo had just wiped.

"Maybe it'll be you." Tenzo smiled softly, moving back towards the living room and settling himself on the sofa.

Kakashi snorted, moving to the opposite sofa and folding his legs beneath him. "No, I'll be the one working from the bottom to lift that guy up."

"Then I'll be that guy keeping your sorry ass upright and making sure you don't wander off half way through or arrive late to the party." Tenzo grinned, leaning back against the sofa and sighing.

"Itachi should be the one."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Tenzo asked, sitting up and staring at his captain.

Kakashi glanced at Tenzo, rolling his eyes and sighing. "I think that Itachi should be the next Hokage, he's the right person for it. He's the only one who can pacify the Uchiha and besides, he's an incredible shinobi, anyone can see that."

"Danzo would never allow that."

"Danzo is not the Hokage." Kakashi muttered.

"He may as well be. He influences the Hokage far too much, whose idea do you think it was to put the Uchiha under surveillance and hold them back on the night the nine tails attacked. What about Itachi's mother? She and Kushina were friends, she would have raised Naruto as her own if she had been allowed, who do you think stopped her?" Tenzo argued, tone growing harsh as he went on a rant.

"Enough Tenzo, keep those opinions to yourself. Don't forget that the ANBU are everywhere. You don't want to be caught voicing those." Kakashi muttered, narrowing his eye at Tenzo before sighing. "I agree with you though. I doubt the Hokage will act without Danzo's approval. Even so, I still believe that Itachi would make an excellent Hokage."

"I do too, he's too young yet though. There needs to be a solution to the problems now, we can't wait for Itachi to grow up." Tenzo mused, leaning back down.

Kakashi looked at the clock, noting the still early time and standing up before he got too comfortable on the sofa. "Even so, if the Uchiha believe that one of them will become Hokage, the may calm down and their hatred may cease. I'm going to go and talk to Itachi now before I rationalise all of this into Itachi being rebellious."

"Do you think he'll be at home?"

"I hope so. I don't want to face his father with no result." Kakashi muttered, standing up and stretching his arms above his head, causing Tenzo to scrunch his nose at the sound of Kakashi's back cracking.

"Good luck." Tenzo offered, waving a hand as he grabbed one of Kakashi's books from the bookshelf and opened it, becoming engrossed within minutes. Kakashi simply raised an eyebrow at Tenzo as he made himself comfortable in Kakashi's living room before pulling on his sandals and opening his front door, moving down the street towards the Uchiha compound where he hoped Itachi was currently located.

Itachi stared over the cliff and into the water of the Naka river where, only a week previous, he had watched his best friend fall to his death. He reached out his hand as if, perhaps this time, he would be fast enough to grasp his hand and save his friend's life. He stood like this for a few seconds, hand outstretched over the cliff and reimagining the scene once more. Shisui had to have been in pain, both from having his first eye ripped out by Danzo and then tearing his second out himself in order to give it to Itachi for safekeeping but then again, Shisui had always been incredible in dealing with pain. Even when they were children, when the two of them had scratched their knees and Itachi had been in tears, Shisui had always been laughing at his best friends tears.

It had always been like that, Shisui picking him up off the ground and laughing as he did so. Itachi had always known him and they had always been two and now, well, now they were one. Itachi lowered his hand and sighed, wiping away the stray tear that threatened to roll off his cheek and into the river.

He had been given his orders earlier that day and he cursed the world that had brought such a fate onto him. He needed Shisui's guidance now and coming to the cliff where his friend had played and died was the closest place he could think of finding his guidance.

The cliff was all but silent; the only sound came from far below, where the water flowed fast and hard, smashing against the rocks and cutting into the stone face of the cliff. The guidance he had hoped to receive was not arriving, and the sinking feeling he felt in his stomach was only growing as time moved on.

Itachi ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the end of his ponytail before sighing and turning away from the cliff and walking back towards the compound in silence.

He didn't return to the clan's compound immediately. Instead he found himself standing in front of Shisui's newly erected gravestone. The flowers he had picked up absent-mindedly from the first flower shop he had passed hung by his side limply. The girl at the flower shop had mistaken Itachi's drawn face and silent demeanour as a nervous boyfriend about to meet his girlfriend's father for the first time, instead of a boy visiting his friend's grave, and had handed Itachi a large bouquet of red roses. Itachi, shocked into embarrassment, had simply paid for the flowers and retreated, face turning red as the flowers he carried as he realised how much amusement Shisui would have gotten from his ordeal. Shisui would simply have clapped him on the back and gone along with him, taunting him mercilessly and laughing at his flustered friend. Putting those flowers on the grave would make it seem too final and he still refused to believe it was final. It was an empty grave after all, Shisui's body had never been found. He supposed it was better that way, after all, finding Shisui's eyeless body would do little more than incite anger and panic and cause the tension between the Uchiha and the Leaf village to sky rocket even further and it already was.

Itachi looked to the sky, where a murder of crows was flying overhead and sighed heavily. He placed the bright red flowers onto the grave, grimacing at how much it looked like he had just left flowers for his deceased lover. The thought made his face redden again and he let out a small laugh despite himself, putting his head in his hands and shaking, struggling not to let the tears that had been building up escape and fall to the ground. After a few moments he straightened himself out and breathed in the cool afternoon air, a single crow from the earlier murder stared down at him from a nearby tree, cawing at him from its perch. Itachi shooed it away and wiped an imaginary speck of dust from Shisui's grave before turning on his heel. It took him a second of looking away before he turned back to the grave.

"You know what? I hate this Shisui. I hate what our clan has become. When we were younger it was always you who got into a mess, it was me who got you out of it. You made up for it by picking me up when I fell and I considered, no, I consider you to be my best friend. This mess was one that we were meant to clean up together, I don't want to do it alone and I'm scared that without you here to stop me that I'm going to do something rash, something that I don't want to do. But I don't know how to stop it. I don't—" Itachi stopped himself, swallowing his emotion and turning away from the gravestone once more. "Please don't think poorly of me Shisui, I guess I can't be the saviour you had hoped. I'm sorry, Shisui, but I'm afraid that I cannot follow you to where you have gone any longer. After tonight, my place will be below, as the scum of the earth. Please— forgive me, my old friend, because god knows no one else will. "

The walk to the compound was quiet, allowing Kakashi to surrender to his thoughts and ponderings. There were many reasons why Itachi could have been acting oddly, reserved almost. He was being careful not so show emotion, something a shinobi was always taught to do, but it didn't mean that he didn't feel the pain of losing his best friend. Kakashi had met Shisui no more than twice but that was enough to make a lasting impression on him. The boy whom Itachi had called his best friend was much livelier than Kakashi's black haired teammate. Always joking around and fixated on pretty girls, the polar opposite of Itachi himself, the later being a sober boy who, apart from sly glances thrown towards a few select girls, had shown no obvious fascination with the opposite gender.

He was aware that Shisui had joined ANBU around the same time as Itachi but, due to the format of the teams, had been placed under someone else's care. From his track record it was obvious that him and Itachi were neck and neck, each making names for themselves in their separate teams. Despite this, Kakashi had seen no rivalry between the boys when he had met the two of them at the Leaf festival only a few months previous. Instead they had been laughing and acting more like children they were than Kakashi had ever seen.

He also hadn't seen Itachi laugh like that since that day. Ever since then the boy had become more withdrawn, worry lines appearing on his forehead at simple things that would not have previously bothered him and Kakashi couldn't help but feel guilty that he hadn't approached Itachi sooner about the odd behaviour. Now that Shisui was dead and Itachi's entire being seemed to be in turmoil, Kakashi hoped that he wasn't too late to help him.

The tension when he entered the Uchiha compound hit him like a wave of ill will and barely repressed anger. The Uchiha were already wary enough of him due to his own, illegitimate sharingan which currently resided behind his forehead protector, recovering nicely from the exhaustion of their long mission which they had returned from. Even so, the tension that he was wading through was too strong for it to simply be about the sharingan, and it wasn't directed at him as an individual. Kakashi couldn't help but glance around himself, suspicious of the faces glimpsing at him as he passed, a snowflake in the midst of a coal mine, a very dark, ready to explode coal mine that seethed ill intent. He couldn't recall the compound; or even the Uchiha themselves ever being so full of mistrust or anger.

He knew where Itachi's house was and he made his way there quickly, picking up the pace as he moved further into the compound. Itachi's house was just as large as he remembered; the courtyard on its own being larger than Kakashi's entire flat and he felt a small pang of jealousy as he remembered the large house he had shared with his father. After his father's suicide, he had quickly moved out of the suddenly too large house and into his flat where he had lived ever since.

Of course, Minato and Kushina had offered to take him in but he'd refused out of pride, telling them he was old enough to look after himself yet regretting his decision only moments after making it, his pride once again stopping him from turning back to Minato and Kushina and begging them to let him stay with them, even for a little while.

Naturally, Minato and Kushina had realised that an eight year old boy was completely inept at looking after himself and had never left him alone for long. Kushina was constantly leaving food for him and rapid firing vegetables his way if she thought he was lacking any vitamin C. She had also had an incredible overreaction every time he'd been injured on a mission and Minato had sometimes had to wrestle the medical kit from her before she managed to turn a traumatised Kakashi into a living mummy.

Despite at the time acting completely and utterly indifferent to the attention, Kakashi doubted that he'd be the man he was today without them, and then they'd been taken by the nine tails and he'd been left alone again. After their death he has immersed himself in ANBU, killing without a care as to whom and simply following orders, until Tenzo, the brat that he was, had come along and made him change his ways rather forcefully, he might add. Itachi had arrived on the scene shortly after and Kakashi had felt the scars he had gotten long ago finally beginning to heal. He didn't want to lose his family again and if that meant playing a big brother and listening to Itachi's problems, he would do it.

Itachi's front door loomed ahead of him and he knocked on the wood quickly, stepping away from the door and looking around. The fan, emblem of the Uchiha clan lined the courtyard walls and Kakashi felt his eyes being drawn to a large crack in one of them, looking as if it had been made recently, and by the shape of the crack it looked like a kunai. It crossed his mind that Sasuke, Itachi's little brother had screwed up while practicing his throwing skills but the thought quickly left his mind, wondering instead if it had been Itachi as a reaction to Shisui's death, knowing fine well that after losing someone like that he would have been perfectly capable of taking out his anger on a wall instead of on a person.

The door was pulled open and Fugaku stared down at Kakashi, causing him to gulp at the Uchiha's glare. "Can I help you Hatake?" Fugaku's tone was gruffly passive but Kakashi could sense the annoyance laced within his words.

"I was looking for Itachi, actually. I needed to speak to him about a mission, Sir." Kakashi told the man, coming up with the first truthful sounding lie that he could.

"I see. He isn't here, he never arrived home from his previous mission." Fugaku told him, narrowing his eyes at Kakashi.

"He— Didn't?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head as he puzzled through where Itachi could have gone. It came to him instantly, he would have gone to visit Shisui, so he was probably still at the boy's grave, somewhere that, after Rin and Obito had died, Kakashi himself had spent an awful lot of time.

"Captain?" Itachi's voice appeared behind them, walking into the courtyard and glancing at Kakashi as he turned. "What are you doing here?"

Kakashi looked Itachi up and down for a moment before meeting his tired, under- shadowed eyes. "We have things to discuss about the mission. Are you free now?"

Itachi looked to his father for permission and Fugaku nodded, allowing Itachi to turn back to Kakashi. "Of course Captain. Please just let me change my shirt."

Kakashi nodded, watching as Itachi vanished into the house. He was left alone with Fugaku once more, struggling not to tap his foot awkwardly as he waited under the stern gaze of the Uchiha's clan leader. After a few seconds Fugaku sighed, closing his eyes and folding his arms.

"I know why you're really here Hatake. My son lost a friend just like you did, we asked Itachi to give you Shisui's suicide note to analyse." Fugaku muttered, opening his eyes and staring Kakashi down.

Kakashi nodded. "He gave it to us, I passed it on to my superior. I don't want to seem like I'm imposing but he seems distracted on missions and I don't want him to get hurt."

Fugaku's eyes softened at his answer and he nodded, closing his eyes for a few moments again and taking a deep breath. "Use that eye Obito gave you wisely, and take care of my son Kakashi."

"I will—sir." Kakashi added the sir on out of respect, surprised at Fugaku's soft words. Itachi appeared in the doorway, pulling his sandals onto his feet, moving towards Kakashi fluidly and nodding to his father with the respect Kakashi knew was simply a part of Itachi's personality.

Fugaku nodded first to Kakashi and then to his son before entering his house once more and shutting the door, leaving Kakashi and Itachi alone in the courtyard.

"Come on kid, let's go." Kakashi told Itachi, pushing his hands into his pockets and leaving the compound with Itachi tailing behind, looking confused as to why they weren't just staying in the courtyard. Kakashi glanced back at the boy who seemed to be scanning the compound with a ferocious intent. Almost as if Itachi needed to know every inch of the place for some unknown reason. His face looked pained and Kakashi's heart went out to him silently as he glanced back at the silent teen every few seconds.

Kakashi led the boy out of the compound and up towards the stone faces of the previous Hokage. Their journey up the stairs to the top of the cliff was silent, having left the buzz of the village far below then. It was on top of the stone face of Minato that Kakashi finally stopped and turned to face Itachi.

"It might be better if we sit." Kakashi told him, lowering himself to the ground and folding his legs beneath him. Itachi tilted his head but followed by Kakashi's example, sitting on the hard ground and drawing his knees to his chest.

"This isn't to do with the mission, is it?" Itachi asked, resting his chin on his knees and staring at Kakashi evenly, no hint of emotion being betrayed from his face.

Kakashi softened his gaze, worry creeping into his eyes as he stared at Itachi, keen eyes noting that Itachi had lost weight in the past few months, something that he knew wasn't due to his friend's death. "No, it isn't."

"I see." Itachi nodded and stared out over the village, eyes blank of feeling but observing everything that was going on below him, knowing that, by this time tomorrow, he'd be a traitor.

It occurred to Kakashi that Itachi had grown up an incredible amount since they'd first met. He'd grown taller for one, almost reaching Kakashi's own height although he still appeared much smaller due to the height of Kakashi's hair. He was no longer the gangly little ten year old anymore, instead having filled out, becoming lean with strong muscle and growing into his sharp features. His voice had broken early, something which both Tenzo and Kakashi had ridiculed him about for weeks— that is until Tenzo's voice broke rather violently in the middle of a mission interrogation. Then it was Itachi's turn to reap the benefits of revenge.

It had been a while since they'd had so much fun together. Granted Tenzo still acted as the clown of the group, trying his best to sabotage both Kakashi and Itachi's lives but Itachi had stopped his acts of revenge, so Tenzo had calmed down a little. Lately, with Itachi so distant and Kakashi being pulled out to go on missions alone for the Hokage, the team had felt disjointed. The mission they had returned from earlier that day had been the first as a team for the past month and it was clear they weren't working as smoothly as they used to. It hadn't been obvious, a stray kunai not blocked by Tenzo, an enemy almost slipping past Kakashi and finally a trap set off by Itachi that ended in Tenzo throwing up a hasty wood wall to block the explosion and protect the three of them.

"How're you doing kid?" Kakashi asked, following Itachi's gaze over the village.

"I'm fine." Itachi replied, glancing at Kakashi with a look of wariness. It was the second time that day that Kakashi had called Itachi 'kid' and the second time that Itachi hadn't told him that off for it.

Kakashi smiled, raising an eyebrow at his blatant lie. "No, you're not."

"No, I'm not." Itachi admitted quietly, sighing and tightening his arms around his legs. All at once the blank face that Itachi had been wearing vanished and was replaced by a look of complete exhaustion. The shadows under his eyes seemed to deepen and worry lines appeared on his forehead.

"Shisui was your best friend." Kakashi didn't want to push Itachi into talking, hoping that the boy would open up on his own terms. Unfortunately, although they hadn't been as close as they used to be, Kakashi still knew Itachi well and he was well aware of how tight lipped Itachi was about his emotions.

"Is." Itachi corrected, causing Kakashi to throw him a worried glance. Itachi stared down at the village, his keen eyes picking up everything going on below them.

Kakashi sighed, staring up at the sky, knowing that he was going to have to try and coax the information out of Itachi a different way. "And he committed suicide."

Itachi glanced at Kakashi from the corner of his eyes, his gaze seeming more like a glare, his features angry for a split second before he turned away and nodded stiffly. "Yes he did."

"And?" Kakashi prodded, glad he had at least got some sort of reaction from the boy.

"He's dead, what else is there? I feel fine." Itachi's tone was blunt, evidently wanting to leave but being too polite to actually move.

"I felt fine too, when my father died the same way." Kakashi told him, staring out over the tops of the village to the land beyond.

He could sense Itachi watching him, eyes wide. Kakashi kept his eyes focused ahead, ignoring Itachi's searching gaze. "What did you do afterwards?"

"I pretended I was fine. I wasn't."

Itachi bit his lip. "Shisui was my best friend. He was a brilliant ninja and I miss him. I don't know what to do without him. I could talk about all of my problems without having to worry about him sharing them. He was the one who taught me that I didn't need a name to protect the village; that fame was irrelevant if it meant saving the people I care about."

"That sounds like something Obito would say." Kakashi commented, finally turning his gaze back to the Uchiha.

"The boy you got your sharingan from?" Itachi asked, eyes more inquisitive than they had been for the past month.

"Yes. Obito was the one who drilled into me that a shinobi who broke the rules was trash but one who abandoned his friends was worse than trash. It was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way but Obito gave his life to teach it to me, so I learnt it, and I never forgot it." Kakashi told Itachi, unfolding his legs and drawing his knees up to his chin, mirroring Itachi's position, instantly looking childlike and completely unlike his twenty year old self.

"How?" Itachi seemed confused, making it evident that is clan had never told him the story of how Kakashi had actually received his eye.

"I lost my own left eye defending Obito on the same mission. We were going to rescue our teammate who had been captured by enemy ninja, well Obito was, I threw a fit and stormed off before arriving late. We managed to rescue her but the ninja who had captured her caused the cave we were in to collapse and a rock fell in my new blind spot, hitting me on the head and causing me to fall. Obito came back for me and tossed me out of the way. He didn't get out of the way in time and a boulder landed on him, crushing his right side instantly. He knew he was going to die and so he gave me his left eye in place of the one I had lost, he made me promise to use it to protect others. I couldn't keep that promise, not then but now, now I plan to, no matter what." Kakashi explained, running a hand through his hair before placing it over his sharingan, lifting his forehead protector and rubbing it like it ached.

Itachi looked shocked, trying to absorb the information that Kakashi had given him. "That wasn't the story I heard."

"I don't doubt it. Sharingan are coveted everywhere, emerging from a mission with a scarred eye, a sharingan and a dead teammate is hardly going to gain me any favours. Even when the Yellow Flash vouches for you it turns out the Uchiha weren't too happy about me gaining a sharingan. Lord Third eventually stood up for me and claimed that if both Rin and Minato vouched for what had happened, I had hardly done anything illegal. You clan dropped it but I doubt many of them like me too much even now." Kakashi told him, well aware of Itachi's searching gaze.

"I see. I didn't know any of that, just that when my father heard that you were head of my team he got very angry. Eventually he dropped it." Itachi said, avoiding Kakashi's gaze. "That girl, Rin, she— died, didn't she?"

"If you're trying to politely ask if I killed her then yes, I did."

"Why?"

Kakashi looked down at his hands. "She asked me to."

Itachi simply nodded, he seemed to understand exactly what Kakashi meant. It was Itachi's nod of understanding that slowly made Kakashi realise what had happened to Shisui. Shisui had committed suicide, he had drowned, he had simply disappeared but Itachi had watched and Itachi had been asked to help him. It was little wonder that Itachi had been acting so strangely, he had been torn between staying loyal to his friend and fighting back against the reason he had died.

It took Kakashi a few moments of thinking to puzzle through the possibilities surrounding Shisui's death. Perhaps there was a reason for the rising tension between the Uchiha and the village and perhaps Itachi and Shisui had been at the centre of them. It didn't help Kakashi figure out why the two boys had decided to do what Kakashi was sure they had done but it did give a reason for Itachi's behaviour.

"Blood or loyalty?" Itachi asked suddenly, tearing Kakashi from his thoughts.

"What?" Kakashi questioned, looking over to Itachi. He was focusing intently on a spot in the distance and avoiding Kakashi's searching gaze.

"What would you choose, blood or loyalty?" Itachi repeated, the question evidently weighing heavily on his mind as he tightened his grip around his shins.

"In what context?" Kakashi replied, eyes narrowed in confusion as he tilted his head.

"Theoretically, If you had to choose between your family and those that you were loyal to, which one would you choose?" Itachi told him, the worry appearing on his face once more.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, thinking through the answer in his head. He had no idea why Itachi was asking him such a question but he knew that the question had been troubling him and brushing it off would only push Itachi further away.

"I think, that, you can't choose your family but, you can choose those you are loyal to. Personally, going on that logic, I would choose loyalty. Theoretically of course."Kakashi answered, staring at Itachi.

Itachi shut his eyes, Kakashi's answer only seeming to depress Itachi more.

"Don't worry kid, you have me and Tenzo to help you through whatever it is you're going through. We're here for you, we're your team, and you can trust us." Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, trying to cheer the young Uchiha up.

Itachi stared at Kakashi, his eyes dead of all emotion. He nodded silently and stood up. "Thank you Kakashi, for everything."

Kakashi stood up too, watching as Itachi seemed to fold up within himself. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, giving him what he hoped was a comforting smile. Itachi's features became childlike as he gave a smile in return.

"You'll be fine kid." Kakashi told him, ruffling his hair and putting his hand on his hip.

"I'm not a kid."

Kakashi laughed, features softening as he watched Itachi desperately trying to smooth his hair. Itachi flushed, expecting the hair ruffling from Tenzo but not Kakashi, Kakashi tended to be the one laughing from the background or slightly delirious from a broken arm. "Maybe not, but you have a lot of growing up to do before I will consider you an adult, especially one worthy of being the next Hokage."

"Wait, what?" Itachi's head whirled around to look at Kakashi, eyes wide as he took in what Kakashi had said.

"Tenzo and I were talking earlier; we think that, someday at least, you'll make an incredible Hokage, one that will finally bring peace to our village and stop this ridiculous fighting that we've grown so accustomed to." Kakashi told him, placing his hand on the boy' shoulder once more.

Itachi looked taken aback, shocked even, at Kakashi's words. "I don't think—"

Kakashi laughed. "Just you wait, when you become Hokage, you're gonna be stuck with me and Tenzo as your advisors because we'll be the ones keeping you grounded by embarrassing the hell out of you."

Itachi's face looked pained as he turned away, shrugging off Kakashi's hand and turning away. "I don't want to be the Hokage, Kakashi. Please let's leave it like that."

Kakashi frowned. "Itachi— What's wrong? What's happening?"

Itachi sighed. "I'm just tired, sorry captain."

Kakashi nodded, his brow creasing in concern as he folded his arms. "If you say so."

"Can I go now Captain?" Itachi asked, shadows under his eyes seeming to deepen.

"Of course Itachi."

Kakashi watched as Itachi turned and began to walk away, folding his arms and calling after him. "Itachi?"

Itachi paused and turned his head back to Kakashi in response.

"You know me and Tenzo are always here right? In case you need a place to escape to." Kakashi told him, watching as Itachi turned his head away.

"I know captain, thank you."

That night, Itachi became an orphan.


	3. The Clan (Part 2 of 2)

_AN: The second part of The Clan, thank you so much for the favourites and reviews! I'm probably going to write some upbeat ones now but I have exams coming up so the updates may not be very close together. _

**The Clan (pt 2/2)**

The full moon illuminated the Uchiha compound well, the silvered light catching on Itachi's blade as he unsheathed it, ready to complete his mission. When he had talked to Kakashi, the only thing that he had wanted to do was tell his captain everything, to beg for his help and to plead with the copy ninja to save his clan. It had taken all of his will power not to throw himself at Kakashi and tell him what really happened to Shisui, to warn him about Danzo.

Now, as he stood above the compound, watching the civilians walking by, he wished that he had said something, anything, to save his clan. His mind was still whirring, trying to figure out a way, any way, to prevent what he was about to do.

A light went out in the distance, showing that the other Uchiha, the masked man from the forest, had begun his attack. Itachi's heart clenched as laughter erupted from below him and he glanced down, watching as a young family walked out of a restaurant, heading home for the night. Itachi grabbed at his vest, gripping it tightly as he tried to steady his hammering heart.

"Please, forgive me." Itachi whispered to the moon, taking a deep breath and tightening his grip on his sword. As he closed his eyes he did the only thing he knew would help, something he had done so well in ANBU. Itachi forgot. He wiped his mind of all of the memories that he shared with his clan, locking them away in the back of his mind so he wouldn't have to feel. So that he wouldn't have to see what he was doing, at least, not until after he had finished.

Itachi straightened up, opening his now blood red eyes and staring back down at the compound. It was easy now, the people he had once considered friends were now simply targets, his enemies. He leapt from his perch, taking out the young family and moving to his next targets. He barely even noticed the blood that was splashing across the ground at every strike of his blade.

The worst thing about it was not the sight of his clan falling, it was the hush that was beginning to fall over the compound as he continued to strike, taking out every man, woman, and child that he came across. No one even had a chance to scream. It was almost out of respect that, once he had cleared each street, Itachi made sure that every light had been turned off, making the only light in the entire compound the light of the full moon which shone down brightly, reflecting off the blood that was pooling along the ground.

He wasn't sure what the masked man was doing, but he could feel the life being sucked from the sector that he had been allocated. Itachi shivered from his new perch on the telephone pole, his earlier purge of emotion fading as he stared down the street, looking at the bodies of the people he had once considered friends. At the end of the street was his own house, which, although being in the masked man's sector, Itachi had decided to do it. He didn't want to kill his parents but he wanted that other Uchiha to kill them even less.

For once Itachi was glad that Sasuke had stayed late at school to practice. Normally by now Itachi would be worried sick, planning to go to the academy to fetch his brother before he missed his dinner. Shisui had laughed at him for doing that, telling him to relax and that Sasuke was fine. Of course he had been right but, it had never eased Itachi's nerves. Even Kakashi and Tenzo had rolled their eyes at his fussing, neither of them having brothers to worry about. Although after tonight, Itachi doubted that Sasuke would consider him a brother again.

But, that was the point right?

Sasuke was the only one who would survive the massacre, that had been Itachi's one and only condition, for Sasuke to be able to grow up and come after him, and to kill him. If Itachi simply committed suicide, Sasuke would not have a goal and Sasuke would also go blind in later life. This way, once he let Sasuke take his revenge, his brother would be free, with a pair of working eyes that could never be blinded, and the secret of why Itachi had done it would die with him and the village would be safe from Sasuke's wrath.

It was the soft, childlike footfalls that brought Itachi's attention downwards. Sasuke was running towards home, bag flying behind him as he sprinted, face still full of joy.

Itachi's heart seemed to stop as Sasuke approached the corner. "No Sasuke, please don't go that way, I don't want you to see." He whispered.

Almost as if hearing his brother, Sasuke looked up at Itachi, eyes squinting as he tried to make out the figure. Itachi leapt off the pole and made for home, leaving Sasuke confused in the street.

The courtyard of his home was empty as Itachi forced himself to walk across it, putting one foot in front of the other, approaching the solid door that would lead him to his parents. When he pushed open the door and entered the hallway, it occurred to him to remove his shoes, nostalgia causing him to pause in his tracks. Itachi shook his head and moved down the hall, glancing into each room for his parents.

They were in the last room in the hall, kneeling side by side almost as if they had expected this and Itachi paused in the doorway, his grip faltering on his sword. They didn't look at him, they didn't have to because Itachi could feel the disappointment the moment he entered the room.

"I see, so you joined their side." His father sighed as Itachi stepped into the room.

"Father, mother, I—" Itachi began, voice catching in his throat. He didn't want to do this, he couldn't, they were his parents, and he couldn't watch them die. Again Itachi began to think of a way to stop this, any way other than what he was about to do that would bring peace. Anything that would stop him from having to watch them die.

"We know Itachi." His mother's soft voice jerked him out of his thoughts, her hand sought Fugaku's and their hands clasped, causing Itachi to shake.

"Promise me Itachi, that you will take care of Sasuke." Fugaku requested, tightening his grip on Mikoto's hand.

"I will." Itachi whispered, hands shaking as he struggled to keep his grip on his blade. His father had to know what was going on behind him, how easy it would be to turn and disarm Itachi, to kill him before he was able to kill them. It was the fact that Fugaku did not move that made it so much harder for Itachi not to cry.

"The way we think is different, but I'm still proud of you," Fugaku told him, voice almost soothing as Itachi shook, eyes clenched shut , attempting to keep his emotions at bay. "Don't hesitate, it's the path that you chose. Our pain will only last an instant, unlike yours."

Itachi took a step back, every muscle in his body screaming at him to run, to return to Danzo and tell him that he couldn't do it. Hell, he could even find Kakashi and beg him for help, Kakashi would help, Itachi knew that he would. After all, the white haired man had always looked after him, even if that care had come with jokes and some embarrassment, it had been constant and tonight, like many things, that care would end.

"Itachi, you really are gentle." His father told him, running his thumb over his wife's hand and then clasping it tightly.

Tears that he had barely been able to hold back before came spilling out, letting all of his heartbreak free in one moment of complete agony. His teardrops hit his blade, mixing with the drying blood and causing it to run off, causing translucent crimson to drip to the floor. Itachi closed his eyes, keeling over on the handle of his blade and breathing heavily, it was all he could do to stop himself from sobbing aloud. Itachi kept his eyes closed for a few seconds longer and when he opened then again, his parents were still, his father lying on his mother as if to protect her, his final act as both an Uchiha and a husband.

"Father! Mother!" Sasuke's voice appeared in the hall, sounding so desperate that it took everything Itachi had not to run to him and hug him tightly. Whether the hug would have been to comfort Sasuke or Itachi himself he wasn't sure but the sound of Sasuke pulling the door open made Itachi turn.

"Sasuke, no don't come in!" Itachi called, his voice catching as he wiped away his tears, hoping that in the dim light his brother would not be able to see the red skin that would give away his tears.

Sasuke, ever the disobeyer, pulled open the door anyway, freezing at the sight of Itachi standing over his parents. "Father! Mother!" Sasuke looked up at Itachi, eyes wide with panic. "Brother! Mother and father, who would do this? Why?"

Sasuke's voice was full of fear, hoping that Itachi would give him a kind explanation. Itachi reached to his shuriken holder and threw one, making sure that it almost missed Sasuke, simply skimming his shoulder before hitting the door behind him.

"Foolish little brother." Itachi was surprised at how flat his voice sounded, how emotionless it seemed. Itachi's eyes changed, causing Sasuke to crumble, lying still for a few moments. Itachi stood, waiting for Sasuke to wake up, trying to keep the tears that were once again threatening to well up from showing their faces.

"Why did you—"

"To measure my abilities." Itachi responded bluntly. He had made up the lie previously, knowing that Sasuke would have to hate him in order to be ready to kill him.

"To test your ability? That's the only reason? You killed everyone… for that?" Sasuke's voice was so small, so full of disbelief that Itachi felt his heart drop.

"It was essential." Itachi told Sasuke, the only truth that he was willing to give.

"That's… total crap!" Sasuke shouted, standing and attempting to lunge at Itachi. In his rage he forgot to watch his footing and slipped in his parent's blood. Itachi watched, his mouth dry as tears slid down Sasuke's face.

Itachi backed away, leaving through the window and hurrying down the street, now, all he had to do was escape. There were footsteps behind him and he stopped, turning to face Sasuke.

"You can't be my brother because—"

"The brother you wanted to spend time with has done this… the ascertain your abilities. I continued acting as the older brother you desired and I became your friend, to see if that potential lies hidden. You continued wanting to surpass me. Because of that, I will let you live… for my sake." Itachi paused, staring down at the brother he loved so much before continuing. "You can awaken the same mangekyou sharingan as me. However, there is a requirement. You must kill your closest friend, in order to become like me."

It took a second for Sasuke to catch what Itachi meant, to think of Shisui and how he had died, and how the clan had suspected Itachi. "Brother, did you kill Shisui?"

Itachi couldn't bring himself to say yes, even though he should have. "Thanks to him I was able to obtain this eye."

Itachi continued, making sure to appear scary, a monster for his brother's memory. He gave Sasuke the key piece of information about the masked Uchiha though, hoping that someday Sasuke would figure it out. "And some day, when you possess the same eyes as me, come before me."

Itachi's eyes changed again, causing Sasuke to struggle to keep his balance. It surprised Itachi when Sasuke pulled out a kunai and hurled it, catching Itachi's forehead protector and causing it to fall to the ground. Itachi glared at him, reaching down and retying the forehead protector. The next glare he sent Sasuke's way caused his brother to crumple. As Sasuke fell, Itachi allowed a single tear to slip from his eyes before running from the compound.

As he ran, his feet splashed in puddles of blood, making the thirteen year old feel sick to his stomach. He stopped at the start of the dense forest that surround the village, falling to his knees and retching, tears freely streaming from his eyes as he sobbed. The sky seemed to echo his sorrow as the heavens opened and rain began to fall.

Itachi stared up into the moon once more, allowing it to wash the tears from his face and the blood from his clothes. "I'm sorry!" He shouted to the sky, eyes fading to black once more. "I'm so sorry!"

He stayed on his knees for what seemed like hours but could only have been minutes before he found the will to stand. It was then that he began to run.

It was still raining when the summons came for Kakashi. He had been in bed, reading and watching the rain fall from the sky. A small but unshakable feeling of dread had been building in his chest from the moment Itachi had turned his back and walked away from him after their conversation on the stone head of the fourth Hokage. When the knock on his door alerted him to the messenger's presence, he was already pulling on his ANBU vest. The message had simply been an order to report to the Hokage's office immediately, and Kakashi had a feeling that his usual lateness would not be tolerated tonight.

His journey to the Hokage's office was brief but it seemed much longer than usual, partly due to the team of ANBU that sprinted past him, faces grim as they glanced at Kakashi. He knocked on the door, mouth dry as he entered, glancing around the room and seeing both the Hokage and Tenzo staring back at him. Tenzo looked confused, glancing from Kakashi back to the Hokage with what Kakashi could only describe as apprehension.

The Hokage cleared his throat, grabbing their attention successfully. "Good, now that you're both here I'll begi—"

"Where's Itachi?" Kakashi asked, barely recognising his own voice, it sounded so restrained and full of tension and his tone only made Tenzo's apprehension grow further.

"Itachi won't be joining us."

"Why not?" Tenzo demanded, meeting Kakashi's eye.

"The entire Uchiha clan has been annihilated."

"What?" Tenzo's jaw went slack and Kakashi felt his heart stop.

_"Blood or loyalty?"_

The tension between the village and the Uchiha clan with Itachi in the middle, it had to have take its toll on him but surely Itachi couldn't have—

"Itachi killed them."

Kakashi felt sick. At the look Sarutobi gave him Kakashi knew that he had gone ghostly pale. Beside him Tenzo stiffened.

"No, Itachi wouldn't do that. You're wrong he's been framed!" Tenzo insisted, looking to Kakashi for support. Seeing Kakashi's shell shocked face he stopped. "Kakashi, you don't think he did this do you? This is Itachi we're talking about. We know him."

Tenzo was desperate not to believe the information he had been given. There had to have been a mistake, something that had been overlooked, but with Kakashi avoiding his eye and the Hokage looking grave he couldn't help but falter in his thoughts of his teammate's innocence.

"Your mission is to apprehend Itachi and bring him back to the village." Sarutobi glanced at Kakashi and evidently worried at what he saw on the shinobi's face added another statement to their mission objective. "Alive."

Kakashi gave a stiff nod, his mind in absolute turmoil as he and Tenzo left the office and moved down the stairs.

"Kakashi, you don't— you don't believe Itachi would do something like this, do you?" Tenzo asked, voice soft as if it would make the situation less dire.

"It doesn't matter what I think. He did it, and those are the facts."

"Captain—"

"Enough. We have a mission to complete." Kakashi's tone made it obvious that no further discussion was permitted as they took off running, rain instantly soaking them to the skin as they followed the trail that would lead them to Itachi.

The huge trees of the forest greeted them silently as they ran, providing them with some cover from the unrelenting rain. It was only minutes before Tenzo lost the ability to stay silent.

"Do you think Sasuke is still alive?"

Kakashi froze for a split second, pausing as he landed on a tree branch before pushing off with vigour. "I suppose we can ask Itachi when we catch him."

Itachi wouldn't have killed his little brother, he loved him too much for that. Kakashi knew that Itachi would never put Sasuke in harm's way, no matter what but then again, when he had watched Itachi walking away earlier, he had known that Itachi wouldn't do anything stupid, yet here he was, chasing down a mass murderer.

And mass murder was the epitome of stupid.

Despite not having his dogs following the trail Kakashi knew that they were going the right way. The periodic drops of blood paved the way quite clearly for them, the rain not quite able to wash them off.

After around thirty minutes of nonstop running, the two ANBU found the other team that had been sent after Itachi. They were alive, that was a relief in itself but their injuries were severe. The leader removed his mask, panting as he cradled he shattered arm.

"He's not far, his eyes, they're not—" the man coughed blood for a few moments before he could continue. "They're not normal, they've changed. Kakashi you're the only one—" The man fell into another coughing fit and Kakashi turned to Tenzo.

"Look after them and help them back to the village."

Tenzo looked taken aback. "But captain, Itachi—"

"I'll get Itachi." Kakashi told him, tone blunt and devoid of emotion.

Tenzo looked torn, part of him wanting to help the injured ANBU team but the other desperately wanting to find Itachi and confront him about his actions. He was all for doing the latter until Kakashi glared at him and ran off, leaving him behind to tend to the wounded.

Tenzo clenched his fists , glaring up at the moon which was now barely visible through the thick canopy of leaves above him, and cursed it. The rain hitting his face snapped him out of his anger and he turned back to the team Itachi had wounded.

"I'm going to have to make various splints for your broken bones, after that I'll bandage what I can and create clones to help you back to the village." Tenzo's voice was blunt, explaining exactly what he was going to do.

The captain nodded as Tenzo formed hand signs and began to create splints of varying sizes. "Do you think your captain will be alright on his own?"

Tenzo turned his attention to the wounded captain, tying the splint to his arm. "Why do you ask?"

"Because that look in his eyes as he left, that was the exact same look he wore straight after he killed that girl, the one previously on his team, Rin I think her name was." The captain told him, coughing once more.

Tenzo stopped wrapping the splint for a moment, turning to stare in the direction that Kakashi had run off in. He bit his lip, praying that Kakashi wouldn't do what Tenzo knew what he was capable of. The captain of the wounded team was right, the look in Kakashi's eyes as he left had been dead, completely devoid of any emotion. Kakashi was prepared to kill Itachi and despite everything, Tenzo worried about Itachi's safety. Worrying about Kakashi's safety had always been innate and all Tenzo wanted to do was stop his two friends from fighting, because he wasn't prepared to bury either of them.

"Tenzo, if you need to go after him, we can hold out a little longer." The wounded captain told him, wincing as Tenzo finished tying the splint.

Again Tenzo turned to glance in the direction that Kakashi had taken off in. No one could say that he didn't trust Kakashi's judgement, despite its small faults but even so he felt the need to follow, to make sure that the dead look in Kakashi's eyes did not reflect what was going to happen.

"No," Tenzo replied, turning back to the wounded team. "I have my orders, and I trust my captain to do the right thing."

He just hoped his trust wasn't mistaken.

Kakashi was gaining on Itachi. Fuelled by both rage and despair he was moving faster and faster as he pursued the boy. His mind was full of confusion, trying to sift through the memories he shared with Itachi, trying to figure out when this could possibly have happened. When could Itachi have possibly changed so much that he could kill his entire clan? It didn't make sense and even earlier when Itachi had brushed him off before leaving, Kakashi couldn't believe that Itachi had been preparing to commit genocide.

It was Kakashi's fault. He should have realised sooner what was going on. His talk earlier was too little too late and the question that Itachi had asked him continued to plague his mind.

_'Blood or loyalty?'_

Kakashi hadn't realised the question's significance at the time, it had simply been an odd question. He realised now that his answer may have changed everything, if Kakashi had told Itachi that his blood, his family was more important, would he still be hunting Itachi down like a dog?

It made him feel sick to think that Itachi had taken his earlier words so literally. Could he really have changed Itachi's mind? Or had the boy been too far gone even then? In a way Kakashi hoped that the latter was true, that he wasn't responsible for Itachi's actions.

The look of pain that Itachi had given at Kakashi's answer had shown the former to be correct. Kakashi could have changed the outcome.

But he didn't.

The Uchiha had been annihilated and it was all his fault.

Kakashi took out his frustration on the tree he passed, bruising his knuckles on the bark as he punched it, splintering the wood deep into the trunk before pushing off and continuing his pursuit of his teammate.

The forest was empty, the silence bearing down heavily on Kakashi's shoulders as he ran, leaping from branch to branch. The moonlight sifting down through the leaves reflected metal in Kakashi's eyes and he picked up the pace, finally picking out Itachi in the distance, light reflecting off his lopsided forehead protector.

Itachi didn't appear to notice him, at least not until Kakashi shouted.

"Itachi!"

The boy froze, skidding to a stop and turning his head. He looked—

Scared.

Itachi was scared.

Kakashi slid to a stop, refusing to draw his blade or open his left eye, not while Itachi was looking at him the way he was, with eyes filled with pained agony and complete terror.

"Why did they send you?" Itachi's voice was hard, the fear in his eyes having no effect on his tone.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the boy, taking in his bloodied uniform and dulled blade. He feared that if he spoke, he'd say something that he'd regret so instead he tapped the bone below his left eye, causing Itachi to nod silently.

"And Tenzo?"

"Cleaning up your mess." Kakashi muttered, refusing to acknowledge the pain in Itachi's eyes.

"I… see." Itachi replied, looking away. "Which one?"

"The latest one."

A muscle in Itachi's jaw jumped as he turned again to run.

"Why did you do it Itachi?" Kakashi demanded, taking a step forwards.

Itachi turned his head to meet Kakashi's eye. "You wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't think I would." Kakashi muttered, his anger beginning to rise. "I've been ordered to bring you back."

"I can't let you do that captain."

"Then we are no longer comrades. From now, we are enemies." Kakashi moved his hands, forming several seals before gripping his arm. Lightning flooded from his palm, illuminating Itachi's dark eyes. It was an odd thought, but Kakashi wanted Itachi to bear his sharingan, granted, it would make the fight that much harder but at least it wouldn't feel like he was attacking a defenceless child.

Itachi glanced at the chidori, taking a step back before turning on his heel and fleeing, leaving Kakashi little choice but to pursue, chidori denting both the ground and the trees as he passed. Itachi was slower than usual and Kakashi had little doubt that it was due to overuse of the boy's sharingan, something Kakashi was all too familiar with.

Kakashi was half right, Itachi was exhausted. Not just physically but emotionally too. Every time he shut his eyes, images of his parents lying so still as their blood moved across the floor or of Sasuke with his eyes so full of hatred flashed across his eyelids. Itachi doubted that those images would vanish for a long time, if they ever did. It was almost as if they had been burnt into his eyelids, the pristine images much clearer than his blurred sight.

At first, he thought it was the tears causing his visual problems but as the tears dried and the blurriness remained he knew that the process had started. At first he had panicked, tearing at his hair as he realised that he would be incapable of completing the mission he had been set while blind. After a while though, as he had stumbled through the forest, his sight had cleared some, and continued to clear even now, a temporary taster for what was to become permanent in his future.

He wondered if Kakashi would suffer the same fate. If his illegitimate eye would become as useless as the real thing was sure to become. It wouldn't be as bad for him, his left eye would still be capable of seeing clearly at least, although he doubted that the Copy Ninja would retain his nickname after the sharingan faded.

The chattering of birds behind him caused Itachi to throw himself to the side, out of the chidori's reach, but not quite quickly enough. The pain that seared through his arm caused him to cry out and fall to the ground, clutching the burning skin where his ANBU tattoo had once been proudly situated.

Kakashi kept the chidori going as he turned to stare down at his crouching former teammate, he told himself firmly that he hadn't flinched the second that he had heard Itachi cry out and that he was prepared to do whatever was necessary to bring him back to the village to pay for what he was done. Except, looking down at Itachi now, all he saw was a scared child, not a mass murderer and he found himself incapable of stepping forward to restrain and blindfold the boy.

"Is it worth it?" He asked softly, watching as Itachi's gaze shot up to meet his. "Do you think what you did is worth it?"

Itachi looked shocked at the question, evidently never having considered that option yet. "I don't know."

Kakashi closed his eyes, letting the chidori fade as he got himself ready to restrain his former teammate. "Did you kill Shisui?"

"No."

"Did you kill Sasuke?" That question was the decider, Kakashi determined, opening his left eye but keeping his left shut, hoping that he wouldn't have to use it on Itachi.

"No. He's alive."

"Good." Kakashi muttered, staring down at the kneeling boy. The wound that Kakashi had inflicted on Itachi's arm with the chidori was bleeding freely, the blood flowing over the boy's thin fingers and dripping to the ground, mixing with the mud below. "It's over Itachi, you have to return to the village now, whether you want to or not."

"I can't." Itachi's reply was blunt and Kakashi considered the use of his words. He didn't refuse, he simply stated the impossibility of the outcome and Kakashi had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

"Itachi—" Kakashi began, taking a step forwards before leaping back as Itachi grabbed and swung his blunted sword, aiming for Kakashi's throat. Once Itachi deemed Kakashi a safe enough distance away he stood up. His hand continued to clench his arm, the blood beginning to clot and stifle the flow over his now red-stained fingers. Itachi looked to the ground, avoiding Kakashi's eyes.

Kakashi stood on his toes, every muscle in his body tense, his left eye ready to open as he watched Itachi's irises bleed into red. At the same instant Itachi looked up, Kakashi opened his left eye and the two sharingan clashed.

Tenzo was finishing his rather dubious patch up job of the ANBU team when he felt it. A flock of nesting birds took to the sky, drawing the attention of the group of shinobi. The silence that followed caused Tenzo's heart to drop. Stillness seemed to envelop the forest as Tenzo stopped what he was doing to turn and stare in the direction that the birds had flown from.

"What just—" Tenzo began but was cut off by the shinobi he was tending to.

"I never thought I'd ever feel it." The man muttered, shivering as the temperature seemed to drop.

"Feel what?" Tenzo asked. "What was that?"

"Two sharingan colliding. Your captain, he's in trouble." The captain of the wounded team pointed out. "You've treated us, now go and help him. We can manage."

"Are you sure?" Tenzo asked, only out of politeness. He was already standing and backing slowly away from the group.

"Yes, go."

Tenzo nodded, turning and taking to the trees, moving as fast as he could to catch up with his team. Worry made his stomach clench as he wondered how he'd find them, whether one of both of them would be dead. He hated what had happened and he still struggled to comprehend the fact that, only hours ago the three of them were on a mission together.

Tenzo sped through the forest, following the same path that Kakashi had followed not long ago. It didn't take him long to find Kakashi. The older shinobi was on his back, white hair brown with mud and what Tenzo assumed was blood. His forehead protector lay beside him, face down in the dirt, one hand reaching for it. His eyes were closed, his face looking pained as his chest rose and fell heavily but he was still alive.

Itachi was nowhere to be seen.

"Captain?" Tenzo called, sprinting forwards towards Kakashi. "Captain!"

Tenzo skidded to a stop, kneeling down beside Kakashi and listening to his laboured breathing. Tenzo grabbed his shoulders and shook him, looking for any type of response from him. Kakashi didn't respond.

"Captain! Wake up!" Tenzo shouted. "Kakashi!"

Again Kakashi didn't respond and Tenzo shook him again. "Dammit Kakashi wake up!"

Tenzo glanced around, trying to figure out which way Itachi could have gone. Without Kakashi's nose, and without having his tracker seeds already implanted, Tenzo had no way of finding the former teammate. His only course of action was to help Kakashi.

As he shook the copy ninja a few more times Tenzo looked around the small clearing, It was obvious that his two teammates had fought, the destruction which always surrounded Kakashi's chidori had taken root in the surroundings, causing craters around where he had been moving and causing trees to splinter at its proximity. Footprints which had now merged together littered the clearing, Itachi's small feet easily distinguishable from Kakashi's larger ones. A pool of blood had formed in one of the craters and a quick glance at Kakashi showed that the blood was Itachi's.

There was so much of it. It was hard to imagine that Itachi was dealing well with his blood loss, he probably hadn't even made it very far from the clearing. Even so Tenzo couldn't sense his presence and even wondered if someone had helped Itachi escape. Itachi's ANBU sword was sticking in the mud, forgotten, its blade to blunted to be of much use in a fight anyway. Kakashi's was missing, more than likely taken by the kid in case he ran into more Leaf shinobi on his escape.

Kakashi was heavy on his back, a complete deadweight and Tenzo struggled to keep his balance on the mud. After a few steps he slipped, sliding down a small incline and dropping Kakashi as he fell to his knees, mud instantly covering his trousers and soaking through to his skin. It took him a few moments to right himself and pull his captain onto his back once more, creating a long wooden staff to help himself to balance in the mud before taking to the trees and heading back to the Leaf.

"You know kid, when you walked into here with that wound on your arm I thought you were a goner." The man who looked rather like a shark commented. "I could smell the blood for miles out."

Itachi winced as he pulled the bandages tight around his upper arm, the blood seeping through the layers as he continued to wrap the cotton around his wound. His ANBU tattoo was definitely gone for good now, as would be his ability to wear sleeveless shirts. The wound would scar horribly, he knew that much and he didn't particularly want to be recognised by a scarred arm, his sharingan was obvious enough on its own.

Evidently realising that Itachi was in no mood to discuss his fight the blue skinned man sighed and stood up, moving away from the silent teenager and back over to the crowd of cloaked rogue shinobi. "Kid won't talk."

"Doesn't matter, he managed to annihilate an entire clan and is the youngest of us all to gain an S ranked status, he also survived the copy ninja's attack. Impressive feats for one so young." The tall, pierced shinobi commented, staring over at Itachi who had finished his bandaging and was staring out of the cave mouth.

"And he is so young," The only woman in the group voiced her opinion, folding her arms and looking unhappy at the situation. "Too young for a group like this."

"I can look after him." One of the men hissed. "We are from the same village after all."

The woman looked unhappy but nodded her approval anyway.

"That settles it then, Orochimaru, you'll take charge of the Uchiha boy. But be warned, if you try any of your tricks, we will not be amused."

"I wouldn't dream of it." The snake-like shinobi hissed in reply.

"Odd isn't it?" The small redhead commented from the floor as he picked up a shaped piece of wood and attached it to a frame. "How he was so easily able to find our hideout after wandering around half delusional from blood loss."

"What are you trying to say, Sasori?" The pierced man asked, looking down at the redhead.

"Only that it was a strange coincidence that such a powerful shinobi of the Leaf's ANBU would suddenly decide to destroy his own clan and then come here for refuge."

"Are you saying that the Leaf would order the destruction of a clan in order for a boy to gain entry into our organisation?" The plant shaped shinobi asked, appearing out of the wall of the cave.

The shinobi with seams running throughout his body raised an eyebrow. "There are those in the Leaf village who would do anything for a profit."

"So it would seem." The pierced shinobi mused, turning his rinnegan gaze to the boy in question who was now staring back with a fierce intensity, ready for whatever he had to do next.

Everything hurt as Kakashi waded back to consciousness. Opening one's own eyes should never be as difficult as what Kakashi was currently experiencing. The room smelt fresh and there was a faint whiff of perfume as Kakashi tried to pry his eyes open.

"I think he's waking up." a male voice commented to his right.

"Wonderful diagnosis Doctor Tenzo." A tired female voice replied.

"Sorry Lady Tsunade."

Kakashi finally managed to unglue his eyelids and his eyes snapped open. The room was bright and he had to blink a few times before his eyes stopped hurting. "How long have I been out?"

His voice sounded awful, all dry and croaky and he winced at the sound of it.

"A few days." Tsunade replied, grabbing the glass of water that sat on his bedside table and holding it to his mouth, using her free hand to support his head.

"Why does my head feel like someone hit me with a house?" Kakashi asked once he'd finished his water, his mind fog beginning to clear.

"Because Tenzo dropped you on it."

Tenzo flushed and looked away, looking as if he'd been betrayed by Tsunade.

"Figures." Kakashi muttered, blinking slowly and trying to rid himself of the blurriness that seemed to cover his entire left field of vision.

"What's wrong Kakashi?" Tsunade asked, forehead creasing with worry.

"My left side is blurry." He admitted, trying to raise a hand but failing, his muscles refusing to comply.

Tsunade sighed, glad that his sight was all he was concerned with. "That should fade with your headache, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm going to go inform the Hokage about your condition, he'll probably want to talk with you."

Kakashi nodded his head slightly and Tsunade turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

"He got away, didn't he?" Kakashi asked, voice blunt and entire being exhausted from the recent events.

"Yeah, he did." Tenzo replied, looking guilty and turning his head away. "I'm sorry captain."

"It was my fault. I should have known what was going on." Kakashi muttered, staring out the window at the blue sky.

Tenzo immediately jumped to his defence. "You couldn't have known Kakashi, no one did. Not even—"

"His clan?" Kakashi finished, eyes moving to meet Tenzo's.

"Yeah." Tenzo looked down at his hands. "It wasn't your fault." He insisted again.

Kakashi sighed and kept quiet for a few moments before making up his mind. "I think it's about time you became an ANBU captain Tenzo."

Tenzo looked surprised, confusion etched on his tired face. Kakashi had little doubt that his teammate had been awake the entire time, just waiting for Kakashi to open his eyes. Despite his joking tendencies, Tenzo worried more than anyone else about the team's wellbeing, something that Kakashi assumed had played a vital part in whether Tenzo had stayed to help him or gone after Itachi in the forest.

"But you're the captain, captain. I don't want to take your place." Tenzo protested.

"Not if we're no longer teammates."

It took Tenzo a moment before replying. "You don't need to switch teams Kakashi, we can just work with the two of us for a while and get another teammate later when—"

"I'm leaving ANBU Tenzo."

"What?" Tenzo asked, eyes wide as he stared at Kakashi, not quite processing what he had just heard.

"I'm sorry Tenzo, I—"

"No." Tenzo stated. "You can't leave Kakashi, we're a team."

"Tenzo, I've made my decision. I'm leaving to become an ordinary jounin." Kakashi told him, staring the teenager down. Tenzo's eyes were wide with confusion, trying to process why Kakashi was leaving.

The two ninja stayed like that for a few minutes, Tenzo struggling to think through Kakashi's motives. Before Itachi had turned traitor, Kakashi had shown no signs of pulling out from the team, from ANBU and now he was just going to leave. Tenzo couldn't think of the last time they hadn't worked together. In fact, they had never not worked together, not since they'd first been properly introduced. Tenzo shook his head to clear his mind of the thoughts that were plaguing him and his face became hard.

"I see, do what you want Kakashi, I won't stop you." Tenzo stood up, mouth in a grim line as he made his way around the hospital bed and towards the door. "I haven't slept in a few days, so—"

"Thank you Tenzo, for everything." Kakashi said, face sliding into a smile as the teenager turned to stare at him.

"Good luck captain. We'll meet again."

Kakashi nodded, knowing that his decision had upset Tenzo but proud that the teenager was taking his decision so well. He watched as Tenzo left the room, swinging his legs out of the bed and wincing as his muscles protested. He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing as his headache began to ease. As he made to stand up the Hokage entered, looking surprised at the non-bedridden ninja.

"I see you're feeling better Kakashi."

"Lord Hokage—"

"I heard your conversation with Tenzo, I understand Kakashi. You have my permission to leave ANBU if you wish." Sarutobi offered, standing in the doorway and staring down at the young man.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage. I'm sorry that I could not complete my mission."

Sarutobi nodded. "Don't worry yourself Kakashi, we underestimated Itachi's abilities, it wasn't your fault."

"I just don't understand why he did it." Kakashi admitted, looking down at his hands.

"I doubt we'll ever know. If you'll excuse me Kakashi, I have to go attend to some matters." Sarutobi turned and left the room, leaving Kakashi to struggle to his feet. It took a while but he finally found himself wandering the hospital. He stopped at an open door, glancing in as he leant on the doorframe for support, breathing heavily as his muscles complained at his movement.

He almost wished that he hadn't stopped at the particular room as he looked at the sleeping child. Sasuke lay in the hospital bed, dreaming feverishly and Kakashi's heart dropped at the sight. He stopped himself from entering, instead simply watching from a distance as Itachi's little brother tossed and turned.

Although he wasn't sure why, after killing the rest of his clan, Itachi had left his little brother alive, Kakashi was glad that he did. Kakashi wasn't sure if Sasuke would share that small sliver of gratitude after all, Itachi had ripped his life apart. He wondered what was in store for the last Uchiha left in the village, the boy would most likely continue his education and become a genin and be assigned to a team of three and Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if he, now that he was leaving ANBU, could lead it. As the boy was an Uchiha, Kakashi had little doubt that he'd want revenge on his clan and would most likely want to hunt Itachi down, Kakashi couldn't help but be wary of what would happen when that time came but for now, there was still an Uchiha in the Leaf.

"Don't worry Sasuke, you'll be fine. I'll make sure of it." Kakashi told the sleeping child, pushing himself off the doorframe and leaving the room, trying to find his own hospital room before Tsunade discovered he'd gone walkabout and murdered him.

When coming to treat him later, Tsunade had known instantly about his prohibited exercise but had stayed quiet, knowing that Kakashi had gone through enough for the time being, he needed a break. When she left him alone for the night, giving him a sly comment about not sleepwalking, Kakashi tossed his sleeping pills into the bin and rolled over, staring out the window at the night sky and letting his mind wander. As Tsunade had said, his blurred vision had vanished by the time a slightly begrudging Tenzo had brought him a takeout from Ichiraku ramen. By the end of the food, Tenzo had accepted Kakashi's decision and was eagerly discussing their individual plans for the future.

_"We should try to meet up at least once a month, no point in letting our friendship go." Tenzo insisted, throwing the empty ramen box into the bin. _

_"Are you planning to make my life a living hell for the rest of my days?" Kakashi muttered, throwing his own container into the bin._

_"Pretty much captain."_

_"Stop calling me captain." _

Kakashi sighed and stared out the window at the waning moon. With Itachi gone and Kakashi himself leaving ANBU, the team that had been so close only days ago was now completely and utterly broken. Kakashi sighed again and rolled onto his back, putting his arm over his eyes.

"Damn it all."


End file.
